n. (a) A collector of customs, as at Canton; an overseer of commerce. (b) A tribunal or commission having charge of the revenue derived from trade and navigation. [ China ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Hoppo men, Chinese customhouse officers. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. inopportunus: cf. F. inopportun. See In- not, and Opportune. ] Not opportune; inconvenient; unseasonable; as, an inopportune occurrence, remark, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

No visit could have been more inopportune. T. Hook. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. Not opportunely; unseasonably; inconveniently. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Lack of opportunity; unseasonableness; inconvenience. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ L. opponere. See Opponent. ] To oppose. [ Obs. ] B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of opening an academical disputation; the proposition of objections to a tenet, as an exercise for a degree. [ Eng. ] Todd. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. opponens, -entis, p. pr. of opponere to set or place against, to oppose; ob (see Ob-) + ponere to place. See Position. ] Situated in front; opposite; hence, opposing; adverse; antagonistic. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who opposes; an adversary; an antagonist; a foe. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One who opposes in a disputation, argument, or other verbal controversy; specifically, one who attacks some thesis or proposition, in distinction from the respondent, or defendant, who maintains it. [ 1913 Webster ]

How becomingly does Philopolis exercise his office, and seasonably commit the opponent with the respondent, like a long-practiced moderator! Dr. H. More. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Antagonist; opposer; foe. See Adversary. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ F. opporiun, L. opportunus, lit., at or before the port; ob (see Ob-) + a derivative of portus port, harbor. See Port harbor. ] Convenient; ready; hence, seasonable; timely. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

This is most opportune to our need. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

-- Op`por*tune"ly, adv. -- Op`por*tune"ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To suit. [ Obs. ] Dr. Clerke(1637). [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. opportunisme. ] The art or practice of taking advantage of opportunities or circumstances, or of seeking immediate advantage with little regard for ultimate consequences. [ Recent ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. opportuniste. ] One who advocates or practices opportunism. [ Recent ] [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. taking immediate advantage, often unethically, of any circumstance of possible benefit; practising opportunism. [ wns=1 ]
Syn. -- opportunist, timeserving. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. (Med.) Causing disease only when the immune system of the host has been weakened, or other damage to the host provides special opportunity for invasion; -- of microorganisms or infectious diseases; as, opportunistic pathogens may infect a burn site; AIDS predisposes a patient to opportunistic infection. [ PJC ]

n.; pl. Opportunities [ F. opportunité, L. opportunitas. See Opportune. ] 1. Fit or convenient time or situation; a time or place permitting or favorable for the execution of a purpose; a suitable combination of conditions; suitable occasion; chance. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Convenience of situation; fitness. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Hull, a town of great strength and opportunity, both to sea and land affairs. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Importunity; earnestness. [ Obs. ] Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Occasion; convenience; occurrence. -- Opportunity, Occasion. An occasion is that which falls in our way, or presents itself in the course of events; an opportunity is a convenience or fitness of time, place, etc., for the doing of a thing. Hence, occasions often make opportunities. The occasion of sickness may give opportunity for reflection. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The condition or quality of being opposable. [ 1913 Webster ]

In no savage have I ever seen the slightest approach to opposability of the great toe, which is the essential distinguishing feature of apes. A. R. Wallace. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Capable of being opposed or resisted. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Capable of being placed opposite something else; as, the thumb is opposable to the forefinger. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Opposition. [ R. ] Sir T. Herbert. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Opposed p. pr. & vb. n. Opposing. ] [ F. opposer. See Ob-, Pose, and cf.2d Appose, Puzzle, n. Cf.L. opponere, oppositum. ] 1. To place in front of, or over against; to set opposite; to exhibit. [ 1913 Webster ]

Her grace sat down . . .
In a rich chair of state; opposing freely
The beauty of her person to the people. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To put in opposition, with a view to counterbalance or countervail; to set against; to offer antagonistically. [ 1913 Webster ]

I may . . . oppose my single opinion to his. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To resist or antagonize by physical means, or by arguments, etc.; to contend against; to confront; to resist; to withstand; as, to oppose the king in battle; to oppose a bill in Congress. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To compete with; to strive against; as, to oppose a rival for a prize. [ 1913 Webster ]

I am . . . too weak
To oppose your cunning. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To combat; withstand; contradict; deny; gainsay; oppugn; contravene; check; obstruct. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To be set opposite. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To act adversely or in opposition; -- with against or to; as, a servant opposed against the act. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To make objection or opposition in controversy. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Not to be effectually opposed; irresistible. [ Obs. ] “Your great opposeless wills.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who opposes; an opponent; an antagonist; an adversary. [ 1913 Webster ]

/mhw> adj. 1. characterized by active opposition; as, two bitterly opposing schools of thought.
Syn. -- antagonistic, antipathetic, antipathetical, opponent. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. acting in opposition to; as, the opposing sector of the same muscle group. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. One who opposes; an opponent; an antagonist. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The opposites of this day's strife. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That which is opposed or contrary in character or meaning; as, sweetness and its opposite; up is the opposite of down. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

The virtuous man meets with more opposites and opponents than any other. Landor. [ 1913 Webster ]

polar opposite that which is conspicuously different in most important respects. [ PJC ]

a. [ F., fr. L. oppositus, p. p. of opponere. See Opponent. ] 1. Placed over against; standing or situated over against or in front; facing; -- often with to; as, a house opposite to the Exchange; the concert hall and the state theater stood opposite each other on the plaza. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Situated on the other end of an imaginary line passing through or near the middle of an intervening space or object; -- of one object with respect to another; as, the office is on the opposite side of town; -- also used both to describe two objects with respect to each other; as, the stores were on opposite ends of the mall. [ PJC ]

3. Applied to the other of two things which are entirely different; other; as, the opposite sex; the opposite extreme; antonyms have opposite meanings. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

4. Extremely different; inconsistent; contrary; repugnant; antagonistic. [ 1913 Webster ]

Novels, by which the reader is misled into another sort of pleasure opposite to that which is designed in an epic poem. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

Particles of speech have divers, and sometimes almost opposite, significations. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Bot.) (a) Set over against each other, but separated by the whole diameter of the stem, as two leaves at the same node. (b) Placed directly in front of another part or organ, as a stamen which stands before a petal. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a situation to face each other; in an opposite manner or direction; adversely. [ 1913 Webster ]

Winds from all quarters oppositely blow. May. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality or state of being opposite. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ See Opposite, Folious. ] (Bot.) Placed at the same node with a leaf, but separated from it by the whole diameter of the stem; as, an oppositifolious peduncle. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F., fr. L. oppositio. See Opposite. ] 1. The act of opposing; an attempt to check, restrain, or defeat; resistance. [ 1913 Webster ]

The counterpoise of so great an opposition. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Virtue which breaks through all opposition. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The state of being placed over against; situation so as to front something else. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Repugnance; contrariety of sentiment, interest, or purpose; antipathy. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. That which opposes; an obstacle; specifically, the aggregate of persons or things opposing; hence, in politics and parliamentary practice, the party opposed to the party in power. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Astron.) The situation of a heavenly body with respect to another when in the part of the heavens directly opposite to it; especially, the position of a planet or satellite when its longitude differs from that of the sun 180°; -- signified by the symbol &unr_;; as, &unr_; &jupiter_; &sun_;, opposition of Jupiter to the sun. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Logic) The relation between two propositions when, having the same subject and predicate, they differ in quantity, or in quality, or in both; or between two propositions which have the same matter but a different form. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who belongs to the opposition party. Praed. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ See Opposite, and Petal. ] (Bot.) Placed in front of a petal. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ See Opposite, and Sepal. ] (Bot.) Placed in front of a sepal. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. oppositif. See Opposite. ] Capable of being put in opposition. Bp. Hall. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To oppose again. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖adv. [ It. ] (Mus.) Too much; as, allegro ma non troppo, brisk but not too much so. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]